Author Topic: How to learning programming and do not give up?  (Read 6423 times)

How to learning programming and do not give up?
« on: August 07, 2014, 10:52:46 am »
Well I can tell you that I already had tried learning programming by using C++, PHP or AngelScript but always I throw it very quickly away. I do not know why maybe it is my poor motivation or later I can not understand everything and I stop learning.  :-\

I have no idea how I can find something interesting in it because when I start for example watching simple video couse the basics are very easy and I am so happy. Later is much harder and you know I give up and do nothing.

Also, for example when I know some about variables, loop I do not know what kind of programme or script I should write because I can not use my knowledge and plan my application.

Generally, I am interested in web development, I have my own simple projects based on CSS framework Bootstrap which I was creating earlier. But for few months I do not nothing because I was too lazy, bored and do not have motivation to learn/do something new. :(

Any suggestions for me where I should start and where I can find something useful? Maybe someone could help me a bit?

Offline JovankaB

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Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2014, 02:47:05 pm »
Maybe try programming in JavaScript
It's used in Web development, it's simpler than C++ and you can do fun stuff faster.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2014, 04:45:15 pm by JovankaB »

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2014, 09:47:00 pm »
Can you recommend me a good tutorial or even ebook? How should I plan my scripts before I start learning and writing something. How do you build your stuff from scratch?  Do you typing from your head or prepare someting or what ???

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2014, 03:11:44 am »
I would recommend setting some goals for yourself, like a project you want to make. Just learning a programming language without any further plans can get pretty boring. But if you have something clear in mind that you want to use that knowledge for, that helps. Try to find or come up with some project that you're inherently interested in - if you want to make a game, make a game that you would enjoy playing yourself.

Of course in the beginning it needs to be simple, so you don't get overwhelmed. Something that you can maybe make a very basic version of and then keep adding to and improve as you go along and learn more. I usually find that once I get started with something good, it's easy to think of ways to improve it and add more features. Anyway, if you want to make games, I would suggest thinking of some simple game that you enjoy. Tetris, minesweeper, solitaire, doesn't matter that much. The simpler it is, the better, because you'll be more likely to have something "playable" sooner. I did minesweeper once, that's not a bad choice if you like that game.

It might not be the best thing right from the start, but once you get slightly more advanced, it really helps with motivation (for me at least) if you're working on a project together with other people. I typically get bored of my solo projects before they are completely finished.

As for what language to start with, I don't think it really matters that much. Personally I like Python.

One thing to consider, if you can't think of anything interesting and "easy" to make, is to mod existing games. It's a nice way to learn the basics of programming (and, depending on the game, some really advanced stuff too), because you typically get to see cool results with very little effort. That certainly helps with motivation.


Once you know what you want to make, then you just have to start crunching some beginners tutorials. The most basic ones are typically easy to find and easy to follow. Once you have a basic grasp of the syntax, I think the easiest way to learn is by looking at existing code. Look at it, test it, try to figure out how it works, and don't be afraid to tamper with it and ask questions like "I wonder what would happen if...".

If you know what you need, try to find/recall something that does something similar, even remotely similar. If you have nothing, see if you can find a tutorial or sample code or something else that might fit. And then get in there and start adjusting. Take it one step at a time, don't try to make too many changes at once.

It's always slow at first, but after a while you get the hang of it, you remember all the syntax at heart, and you can start writing code from scratch.

Hope that helps a little bit. Good luck!

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2014, 08:38:11 pm »
Try Code Academy if you like doing web related stuff. It has free interactive lessons for pretty much every web based programming language. Even Javascript. And as Lidae said don't force yourself to learn everything at once. Take it easy. Learning to code is like building a brick wall, you can't build the entire wall at once, you need to build it brick by brick and in time it will be finished. When I first started to learn coding I took a notebook and a pen and I wrote down everything I learned, it helped me a lot with memorizing everything and it's also good if you forget things so you can just go back review what you learned. Oh and I was terrible at math, always had bad grades in school  ;D , programming helped me a lot with this matter.

I really recommend you try Code Academy it has many languages for you available that you can learn. Try them all, see which one is easier for you to learn and go for it  ;)

I recently bought Project Zomboid and this game relies on Lua I decided to start learning to code for it so I can make my own mods.
« Last Edit: August 08, 2014, 08:44:50 pm by raynor009 »

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2014, 11:18:15 am »
Thank you for replies but I think my problem is much bigger. raynor009 yes I was using codecacademy last year, I completed few courses for HTML, CSS and I started PHP, jQuery but I did not complete because my lack of motivation and problems with understanding everything later.

Generally I do not know what kind of app I should write. I was thinking about very simple Fallout/FOnline character planner in web browser but I do not know how to start and what I should learn. I think JavaScript will be fine and useful for me but... how? Start Codecademy JavaScript and later?

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2014, 12:07:18 pm »
You could make browser games with html, css, php and javascript. And if your games are good you can turn them into profit. Try to master these languages if said you completed them on code academy.

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2014, 11:23:14 am »
Yeah, I am going to focus on JS first and I will try understand programming but I afraid that I will not know how to use knowledge.

raynor009 do you web programmer?

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2014, 10:05:34 pm »
I'm nothing at the moment, I do coding just as a hobby or for fun. But I do know a few web languages.

I am still learning myself and I'm working(when I feel like it) on web-browser fallout game. I have no hopes to ever finish it but it's good practice. Although I have a friend who is working on his own project just like mine and he is way ahead of me.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2014, 10:14:22 pm by raynor009 »

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2014, 08:20:40 pm »

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2014, 08:02:24 am »
My game is nothing like that, it is just text based. But thanks for showing me this, it looks interesting.

Offline JovankaB

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Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2014, 10:54:58 am »
For JavaScript check out this book: http://eloquentjavascript.net/ (it's free).
I only skimmed through it, but it looks quite good and modern, teaches not
only JS but also explains some basic principles of programming.

Once you are done with it, I also highly recommend to read JavaScript: The
Good Parts by Douglas Crockford.

As online language reference, Mozilla MDN is probably the best.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference

For browser compatibility with different JavaScript APIs:
http://caniuse.com/
« Last Edit: August 19, 2014, 11:44:57 am by JovankaB »

Re: How to learning programming and do not give up?
« Reply #12 on: August 19, 2014, 08:13:20 pm »
Thank you JovankaB, I will check that book, hope I won't give up.